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UK hotel disassociates from Ireland's cruel hare coursing
07 February 2014
A UK hotel has responded positively to an Irish Council Against Blood Sports appeal and said that it will not advertise in hare coursing publications in the future.
ICABS complained to the Thistle Hotel group after an advert for its Cheltenham branch appeared in the booklet for the hare coursing finals in Clonmel this month.
We told the company that hare coursing is an illegal activity in the UK and that a majority in Ireland want it banned. We highlighted that before being forcibly removed from the Powerstown Park coursing venue in Clonmel, two ICABS monitors witnessed sickening scenes of cruelty as hares were repeatedly terrorised by greyhounds.
"The meeting in Clonmel is the culmination of a season of coursing cruelty around Ireland which, every year, sees hares being injured and killed by dogs," we stated in our correspondence. "Among the victims are a hare 'squealing in distress' after being caught by a muzzled dog, a hare suffering with 'a badly broken hind leg', a hare in agony in a coursing enclosure with its leg 'almost completely broken off', a hare destroyed by a vet after it was found suffering with a dislocated hip and hares with injuries so severe, they couldn't move; their conditions ranged from 'poor to almost dead'."
Responding to our complaint, Martin Orme, Manager of the Thistle Cheltenham Hotel apologised for the advert and stated that "there was and never will be any intention on our part to be associated with bloodsports of this type."
"You can be 100 per cent assured that no further adverts would be placed in publications associated with events of this nature," he added.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports welcomes this positive response and we have thanked Thistle for disassociating from cruel coursing. Thistle is one of the largest hotel chains in the UK and the biggest in London.
Our attention now turns to other companies who advertised in the coursing booklet - including the Clonmel Park Hotel, Kasko pet foods, Gain dog food, Masterchefs Hospitality, Greyhound and Pet World Limerick, Ballyroe Heights Hotel Tralee, Surehaul and Boylesports.
See more videos exposing the cruelty of coursing on our Youtube Channel - www.youtube.com/icabs
ACTION ALERT
Sign anti-coursing petitions
Minister Coveney: Save hares from cruel coursing
Petition to Ban horrific Hare Coursing Cruelty in Ireland
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
Find more petitions on our Petitions Page
Urgently contact An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and An Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore. Ask them to show compassion for wildlife and introduce an immediate ban on hare coursing and all bloodsports.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
Department of the Taoiseach,
Telephone: 01-6194020
An Tanaiste, Eamon Gilmore
Office of the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Tel: 01 6183566 (Dail) or 01 408 2000 (Iveagh House)
Email Both: eamon.gilmore@oireachtas.ie;taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Ask Minister Deenihan and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to respect the wishes of the majority who want hare coursing banned and withdraw the coursing licence.
Jimmy Deenihan, TD
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
23 Kildare Street
Dublin 2
Email: jimmy.deenihan@oireachtas.ie
cc: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,nature.conservation@ahg.gov.ie
Tel: (01) 631 3804
Fax: (01) 661 1201
Constituency Details
18A The Square, Listowel, Co Kerry
Telephone: 068-57446
Fax: 068-57805
Urge Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to remove exemptions for coursing from the Animal Health and Welfare Bill.
Minister Simon Coveney
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie
Tel: 01-607 2884 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Contact all your local TDs now. Demand that they urgently push for bans on coursing and foxhunting.
Find out their contact details
Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics.
Videos: Ireland's hare coursing cruelty
| A hare is hit into the ground at the JP McManus-sponsored coursing meeting at Limerick Racecourse. February 2013 |
Slideshow: the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
The victims of coursing
All hares used in coursing are victims and they all suffer the fear and stress of being violently snatched from their habitats, thrown into crates, transported to coursing compounds and kept in captivity for months. Among the hare injuries and deaths recorded are:
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